Ronda Rousey Interest Drives Huge UFC 207 TV Ratings Boost to FS1

Interest in Ronda Rousey‘s return to the Octagon at UFC 207 drove strong viewership to FS1 on Friday, Dec. 30.

Following Amanda Nunes’ shocking 48-second defeat of Rousey on Pay-Per-View, the FS1 UFC 207 Post-Fight Show tallied 404,000 viewers, a +166% jump over the comparable Jan. 2, 2016, post-fight show (for UFC 195), and good for the fourth most-watched post-fight show in FS1 history. Among the Adult 18-49 demographic, viewership was up +157% over the Jan. 2, 2016, post-fight show (234,000 vs. 91,000).

The FS1 UFC 207 Prelims scored 1,511,000 viewers on Friday, making it the eighth most-watched Prelims ever on the network. It was up +46% over the 1,032,000 viewers for the comparable FS1 UFC 195 Prelims on Jan. 2, 2016. Among Adults 18-49, the prelims were up +42% (813,000 vs. 572,000). The FS1 UFC 207 Prelims peaked with 1,848,000 viewers between 9:45 – 10:00 PM ET.

Intrigue heading into the evening’s fights was strong on the network as well. The FS1 UFC 207 Pre-Fight Show logged 572,000 viewers, making it the fifth most-watched Pre-Fight show in FS1 history. The FS1 UFC 207 Weigh-In Show garnered 216,000 viewers, up +23% against the 176,000 viewers for the lone UFC weigh-in last January that aired on a Friday.